Shriners Held a ‘Little’ Parade in Hamilton Saturday

The Bagdad Temple of the Shriners held their Spring ceremonial in Hamilton last weekend and, of course, staged a little parade - and we mean "little" - as in the bitty bug patrols from the various Shrine Lodges in Southwestern Montana. The parade was a little later than originally publicized, but there were plenty of people cheering on the guys in their miniature cars and trucks that roamed from side to side of Main Street from the Second Street intersection west to Sixth Street, where they turned north and disbanded by the Washington Elementary School playground.

This year's potentate of the Butte Bagdad Temple is Hamilton's Wayne Jones, former golf pro at the Hamilton Golf Club. The Shriners held other activities during the weekend. Of course, the parade included the Bitterroot Fire Patrol that is a regular feature of the Ravalli County Fair parade every year.

There are 22 non-profit hospitals across the country that the Shriners have established to help kids. They have an orthopedics hospital in Spokane that has benefited many Bitterroot Valley kids. Other hospitals nearby are in Portland, Oregon, and Salt Lake City, Utah. They are committed to providing specialty care in Orhopaedics, Burn Care, Spinal Cord Injury, and Cleft Lip and Palate, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Find out more at their great website.